Monday, October 17, 2016

I was surprised and saddened to learn of the sudden death of my cousin, Connie, on October 11. Her funeral is today in Florida where she and her husband retired after his career in the Navy. Connie was actually my father's cousin, so she was my first cousin once removed, but because she and her sisters Marilyn and Sharon were close in age to my siblings and me, and we all lived in the same town, they were just "cousins." Her father, Uncle Orville Ballard, was my grandmother's "baby" brother, and he and my father were close friends. Dad was the best man in Orville and Dorothy's wedding. Dorothy and her three daughters were all very talented women, particularly in fabric arts and music.

Sharon, Connie and Marilyn with Aunt Ada, ca. 2009

Connie, lower left, 1980s

Constance “Connie” Kay Darnell passed away on October 11, 2016 in
Orange Park, FL. She was born on July 30, 1944 in Rockford, IL to the
late Orville E. Ballard and Dorothy E. Norberg Ballard.

Constance earned her B.S. degree from the University of Illinois,
where she met her husband of 47 years, Thomas Darnell. For over 30 of
these years, she artfully mastered the intricate and demanding
commission of a Navy spouse, moving her family from one place to
another, always ensuring everyone was secure in their new surroundings.
Every new locale offered new opportunities to nurture her love of the
outdoors, and she enjoyed activities such as tennis, sailing, golf,
gardening and hiking. She was artistically talented and expressed her
inventiveness through the creation of intricate quilts for family
members, as well as painting, writing and playing the piano and
saxophone. Her love and passion for books and the written word inspired
her to become a literacy volunteer for Clay County Literacy Coalition
where she earned Tutor of the Year recognition in 2013. Another
volunteer effort close to her heart was collecting food for the local
charity, Waste Not Want Not.